Whole30 vs Keto – What’s the Difference?

If you’re wanting to change up your diet a bit, you might look to some of today’s more popular diets like Whole30 and keto. These diets share some similarities but are very different styles of eating.

The main difference between Whole30 and keto is that Whole30 is a short-term/”reset” diet that limits specific foods (but not nutrients) and keto is a very low-carb/high-fat that isn’t meant to be a short-term diet.

There are several rules and restrictions for both diets, but where do they overlap? We’ll compare both in a handy table and explain more about these diets here.

What is Whole30?

Whole30 is a short-term elimination diet that’s meant to be followed for 30 days. During the 30 days you’re doing the diet, you’ll need to avoid several types of food (we’ll list them next), and then gradually re-introduce certain foods for a period of ten days after you’re done with the first 30.

The purpose behind Whole30 is to identify potential foods that might be interfering with your digestion, weight, or other aspects of your quality of life – some like to think of it as a “reset” for your diet.

Some of the foods & ingredients avoided on Whole30 are:

• Added sugars and sweeteners, both “real” and artificial. This includes table sugar, honey, coconut sugar, Splenda, and anything that is used to add sweetness to your foods and drinks
• Alcohol in all forms
• Grains in all forms, including grain-based flours, gluten-free flours, and pseudo-grains like quinoa
• Legumes, including peanuts, soy, lentils, etc.; the only exceptions are green beans and most types of peas
• Dairy, except for clarified butter/ghee
• Desserts & baked goods made with “allowed” ingredients
• Carrageenan or sulfites (types of food additives) 

What is the keto diet?

A ketogenic (keto) diet is a very low-carbohydrate diet. While you’re on a keto diet, you’ll restrict carbohydrates (carbs) so much that your body enters a state called ketosis, where it starts burning fat for fuel instead of carbs (your body’s primary/preferred source of energy is carbs).

Keto diets are also high in fat, usually around 70-80% of your total calories. (That would mean you’d eat a minimum of around 155 grams of fat per day for a 2,000-calorie diet.) That leaves around 5-10% of your calories coming from carbohydrates and around 10-20% from protein.

Why so much fat on keto? When your body breaks down fats it provides ketones, an alternative source of fuel besides carbs.

Your carb intake will usually stay below 50 grams per day on keto, but it can be as low as fewer than 20 grams per day, which is extremely low (the average American not on keto eats more than 250 grams of carbs a day!)

Whole30 vs Keto – similarities & differences

Whole30 and keto are very different diets, but they do share a few similarities. Let’s summarize some of the biggest similarities and differences!

	Whole30	Keto
Avoids refined sugars	Yes	Yes
Avoids artificial sweeteners (including sugar alcohols)	Yes	No
Avoids grains	Yes	Yes, though some lower-carb gluten-free grains may be allowed
Avoids legumes	Yes	No (peanuts, soy, and other low-carb legumes are allowed)
Avoids dairy	Yes	No
Avoids fruit	No	Yes, for the most part (very limited portions)
Avoids starchy vegetables	No	Yes (high carb content)
Rules on macros/carbohydrates	No	Yes
Avoids certain preservatives, e.g. carrageenan	Yes	No
Avoids alcohol	Yes	No

Whole30 vs. Keto – which is better?

Both Whole30 and the keto diet are quite restrictive diets. Whole30 isn’t meant to be followed long-term (its goal is to help you identify which foods might be contributing to your health, how you feel, etc.), whereas keto isn’t necessarily a short-term diet.

Whole30 might be a better long-term tool to help you identify which foods impact your health moving forward, without being tied to a diet long-term. 

For instance, if you learn that your usual diet is very high in added sugars and experience what it’s like to cut back on them, that can be more helpful long-term than trying to follow a strict diet long-term, such as the keto diet.

Bottom line – the main difference between Whole30 vs. keto

Whole30 is a short-term elimination diet (though some people may continue to practice aspects of it long-term) whereas keto is a very low-carb/high-fat diet that isn’t meant to be used short-term. Both diets are commonly followed to promote weight loss (though that isn’t the intent of Whole30) or otherwise work on health improvement.

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